Ch. 15: The Lord's Covenant People

from Gospel Principles:

When people make covenants (promises) with the Lord, they know what He expects of them and what blessings they may expect from Him.  The people who covenant with the Lord and with whom the Lord makes covenants are known as the Lord's covenant people. 

Within the gospel, a covenant means a sacred agreement or mutual promise between god and a person or group of people.  In making a covenant, God promises a blessing for obedience to particular commandments.  He sets the terms of His covenants, and He reveals these terms to His prophets.  If we choose to obey the terms of the covenant, we receive promised blessings.  If we choose not to obey, He withholds the blessings, and in some instances a penalty also is given.

Abraham (pictured above), an Old Testament prophet, was a very righteous man and kept all of the Lord's commandments.  Because of his righteousness, the Lord made a covenant with him and his descendants (see Galatians 3:26-29).  Abraham's blood descendants and those adopted into his lineage by accepting and living the gospel of Jesus Christ are included in this covenant.

The fulness of the gospel is called the new and everlasting covenant.  The Lord calls it everlasting because it is ordained by an everlasting God and because the covenant will never be changed.  He gave this same covenant to Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and other prophets, so in this sense it is not new.  But the Lord calls it new because each time the gospel is restored after being taken from the earth, it is new to the people who receive it.  As we keep our covenants, our Heavenly Father promises us that we will receive exaltation in the celestial kingdom (we'll discuss this more in chapter 47).

The greatness of that promise is hard for mortals to understand.  The commandments He gives are for our benefit, and as we are faithful we may forever share the blessings and beauties of heaven and earth.  We may live in His presence and partake of His love, compassion, power, greatness, knowledge, wisdom, glory, and dominions.

As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I accept the new and everlasting covenant.  I am one of the Lord's covenant people and for example, how I dress, act, and keep the commandments of God show my commitment to living this gospel.  It can get difficult to follow but certainly doable.  Let's remember that we are children of God and so we are already great.  May we honor our heritage and live worthy to receive the abundant blessings in store for us.

"Twinkle Twinkle"

by Kaori Ekuni, translated by Emi Shimokawa, 2003, 170p, rating=2

Call me simple minded (though I'd prefer naive) but I didn't get this book!  It's the wackiest book I've read yet!  There must be something Japanese that I missed ... in their culture, literature, or a comedy show... that would make this an Oh, I get it moment.  I don't know.  It wasn't poorly written, just down right wacky! 

Oddly enough, I did have a take out on this, so that calls for an extra point in rating.  Well, marriage calls for a union between two people that have their own set of personalities, quirks, and such.  These two would now have to figure a way to blend these differences to live in some sort of harmony.  Compromises, sacrifices, patience, acceptance, etc. then come to play.  That's what happened for Mutsuki and Shoko, just in a seemingly hilarious turn of events.  Strange, I tell ya, strange... 

Book's synopsis:

"As it turned out, the only way to make their parents get off their backs about trying to 'find someone' was actually finding someone--with whom to put on a marriage for show.  Mutsuki is strictly gay and has a boyfriend, while Shako is a clinical case of emotional instability who's in no shape for a relationship.  They've each found in the other a perfect partner for a sham marriage.  Since the conspirators' parents know of their own child's undesirability, but not the spouse's, the union manages to please them.  And while the newlyweds hope, in their own way, to live happily ever after, they inevitably come face to face with the fact that no marriage, real or staged, is a fairy tale."

"The Lovely Bones"

by Alice Sebold, 2002, 328p, rating=4.5   **SPOILER ALERT**

Wow, the beginning was hard to stomach!  I've got a daughter (and sons) and ... nightmare, nightmare, nightmare!!!  Rape, murder, ... I had to put the book down for a moment.  Then it was a careful read from there on.  I wanted to see how this awful man would be put to justice.  I expected it, heck, if I could I'd jump into the book and k--- him myself!! ... Give me a moment, I think I'm going to throw up!

I'm glad the author took the book to a higher level than just making sure the assailant die a horrible death (brilliant, btw!).  Ms Sebold instead concentrated on the effects of loss.  The cruelty of having to live un-whole.  A strain so overwhelming that something had to give.  Also, Ms Sebold told a tale of what one's heaven might be like.  Overall, a lot of pain and suffering but also some growing up in fun and happiness.  An incredible book after getting through the beginning (though that too was brilliant ... get to it from the start and move on).

Here, Susie Salmon, 14yo, was brutally raped and murdered.  In the heaven she is now in, she is able to hover over her family, friends, and assailant's life on earth.  She witnesses the fall and rise of her family's affairs.  She follows her clairvoyant friend and re-connects with a boy.  She discovers her murderer's past.  In the end, she was happy.

Thank you Followers!

Thank you Sharon and Rachel for following my blog!  I don't see a link to you and since I'm not all together computer savvy this would be my way of contacting you. 

I appreciate your support and I'm determined not to disappoint your decision ... and that goes for all my other followers as well.

I might add a little disclaimer that I've got 3 young kids under the age of eight, so they come first.  Plus, I'm fairly new at book blogging so please bear with me.

Yeay!  I love to read!!

Follow Friday

I'm a fan of TinasBookReviews and saw this on her blog.  What a great way to link your blog and find wonderful blogger friends to follow.  Feel free to check it out!   

(click on the picture for details)

P.S. If you've taken the time to follow me then I consider you a friend and I will follow you as well!  Just leave me a comment. :)

"The Old Man and the Sea"

by Ernest Hemingway, 1952, 140p, rating=4.5

A classic novella that contains many symbolism that can be and I'm sure have been scrutinized, however, I'm no literary scholar so my take will be simple.  Anyway, I found this old man, Santiago, quite an extraordinary man.  After all, he fought off five sharks and managed to catch an eighteen foot marlin all by his lonesome self on a small inshore boat somewhere in the Gulf Stream.  That's no ordinary grandpa!!  I can't believe he did it, but sure love the idea that endurance, experience, and respectful attitude are ingredients for a hero.  Certainly, this was so in the eyes of the old man's apprentice Manolin, the boy (actually an adult). 

What an awesome message.  Although we don't have literal sharks circling us, we do have difficult obstacles that are equally tasking.  Our attitude, our resourcefulness, and our fortitude make for elements that would sustain us in such hard times.  There is just something to stories that end with I fought a good fight theme that encourages one to believe that one can overcome a seemingly hopeless case.  Great job, Mr. Hemingway!

My quote-ables:
"I will show him what a man can do and what a man endures." pg 73
"But man is not made for defeat.  A man can be destroyed but not defeated." pg 114
"Now is no time to think of what you do not have.  Think of what you can do with what there is."  pg 122

"Forty: The Age and the Symbol"

by Stanley Brandes, 1985, 126p, rating=2.5

The thing about non-fiction is that it often contains a whole slew of factual information.  This essay is no different and so the read can be tedious ... and boring.  Well, having just passed the age forty mark, I was interested in what Mr. Brandes had to say.  Basically, he ventured to discuss the significance of the number and age of forty by referencing from literature, religion, and cultures.  I found his four facets of forty interesting:  (1) as representing many (eg. forty-faced liar, forty to the dozen); (2) as a self-contained unit of time and space (eg. Flood lasted forty days and forty nights, Lent is approx. forty days); (3) as symbolizing birth or renewal (eg. Arab legend says God made Adam out of clay and let him dry for forty days, Western view of 6wks postpartum recovery--roughly forty days); and (4) as signaling a period of transition (eg. notion of mid-life crisis at age forty).

I like the book's summation so I will share it now:

"His conclusion?  The mid-life crisis, like that of adolescence, is a cultural invention.  It becomes more evident and real as people increasingly believe in its existence.  Yet there may be change ahead.  For centuries, Brandes notes, forty was considered the beginning of old age.  Recently it has come to signify the middle years.  Soon people may regard forty as an advanced stage of youth."

This book is 25 years old, so the above statement of recently is now also 25 years old so do you think we're at the point as to regard forty as an advanced stage of youth?  Perhaps so as many are saying now ... forty is the new thirty ... forty is the new twenty.  Plus I might add the development of "cougars", older women going after much younger men. 

I can't say that I had a mid-life crisis when I turned forty years old.  I did feel the anxiety of turning forty and felt the want to accomplish something in this decade.  I don't want to be in the cougar attitude of wanting to feel that kind of young but rather bask in the mature progress of middle age.  So I can honestly say, I like the age I am in now and look forward to seriously building a legacy that is honorable and true.